The messiest new celebrity relationship of 2023.

There's been a lot of celebrity relationship *mess* this year.

But one might take the cake, because it involves two divorces, lots of sly social media comments and a reference to Beyoncé's Lemonade, which everyone knows is the greatest piece of art to come out of a celebrity cheating scandal.

It began in October, when rumours of a relationship between One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush and former US women's national soccer team star Ashlyn Harris surfaced in tabloids. It could've been just another story of strange, but very fun, celebrity crossover. 

Teen idol meets soccer hero? Amazing.

Except there were two details complicating things: both Bush and Harris had recently filed for divorce. In Harris's case, it happened only weeks earlier. Until September, Harris was married to her US national team mate Ali Krieger. They were together since 2010, had been married for four years and share two children.

Meanwhile, Bush filed for divorce from her husband of 13 months, Grant Hughes, about six weeks earlier, in early August. 

So, naturally, people started wondering about... crossover.

This was exacerbated by a heap of tabloid gossip. Several published photos of Bush and Harris together during a panel about women's sports in Cannes in June, and the Daily Mail claimed via a source that Harris had immediately returned from that trip and broken up with Krieger.

Krieger hinted – or more accurately, screamed in our faces – that Harris had been unfaithful when she shared a carousel of images from her football training with the caption "preparing for playoffs while in my Beyoncé Lemonade era".

ICYMI: Lemonade is Bey's 2016 concept album that traverses her feelings after her husband Jay-Z's infidelity.

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A post shared by Ali Krieger (she/her) (@alikrieger)

Krieger's brother Kyle also commented a gif of Beyoncé from the music video for 'Hold Up', where she destroys cars with a baseball bat. He also commented lyrics to 'Don't Hurt Yourself' from the same album: "This is your final warning, you know I give you life. If you try this sh*t again, you gone lose your wife".

And finally, he ALSO commented (Kyle was being messy): "Love you and so proud of you!! These hoes ain't loyal!! But me and your fans are!"

Geez.

Krieger's post also attracted comments of support from other current and former US soccer stars including Jessica McDonald, Midge Purce, Sophia Smith, Crystal Dunn and Alex Morgan.

People then retrospectively searched Bush's social media posts, pulling out various instances of her supporting Harris and Krieger's marriage. 

...Oh. And 'saving' a thirst video of Harris back in June, further muddying the timeline here.

Image: Instagram/TikTok.

Things came to a head in late November, with Harris released a long-form statement on her own Instagram account, refuting any allegations of infidelity and sharing the impact that all the negativity had had on her mentally.

"I did not step out on my marriage. I was always faithful in my marriage, if not always happy... None of this happened on a whim," she wrote, adding that she and Krieger had spent the entire summer working out the details of their separation.

She called the online hate one of "the most personally devastating experiences" of her life.

"Right now, it feels like the entire community has poured gasoline on me and lit the matches. So many of you, including people who stand publicly as anti-bullying advocates, have cheered this on like bloodsport... I want to be clear that pushing someone to the edge? That isn't a win. No one 'wins' here."

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A post shared by Ashlyn Harris (@ashlynharris24)

Even after that, posts on Instagram that may or may not relate to this situation have continued to be shared, mostly by Bush.

On her Instagram story in late November, she shared a photo of a cake saying, 'Congrats on leaving that toxic relationship!', and in early December, she said, "To those whose secrets I've kept this year... be grateful".

"Your girl is TIRED and about ready to light a match next to those toxic gasoline tanks you've been filling all willy-nilly with such abandon."

Yeah, that's a lot. And it's interesting that both Bush and Harris refer to gasoline.

Despite all the online mess, both seem to be chugging along in real life, most recently appearing at Art Basel Miami Beach together in early December.

Feature image: Getty/Instagram.